Cowboys ready for ‘crafty’ Colombo

ARLINGTON – The Cowboys got rid of aging right tackle Marc Colombo at the start of training camp, but he’s proven to be a solid starter for the Dolphins.

Dallas Pro Bowl outside linebacker and NFL sack leader DeMarcus Ware faced Colombo plenty in practice. Today, the two will square off in a game for the first time.

“It’s going to be a little more intense than in practice,” Ware said Wednesday. “In practice you know when to lay off and when not to lay off. Now you’re in a full game and it’s your job. You have to do what you have to do to be effective. It’s going to be a lot different going against him. He’s going to be a little bit of a mauler type guy. I’ve seen him on tape. He’ll throw a guy down, lay on a guy. I know what type of guy he is.”

Ware called Colombo one of the “craftiest players I know.” There were several reasons why Dallas let him go, but the main one was the drafting of Tyron Smith in the first round.

“He’s going to be 110 percent more juiced for this game,” Ware said of Colombo. “He knows me. He knows how I play and I know how he plays. It’s going to be one of those battles. We’re going to go at it, especially with (Anthony) Spencer on the other side and the other guys, Spears and Ratliff, who he used to play with. He’s going to try to leave an image in our minds that, ‘Hey, I’m a force to be reckoned with.’